The Weather Channel, Asheville Citizens News and a ton of smiling faces were on hand for Cataloochee’s Opening Day of the 2006-2007 season. A lot of the Cat Crew was there and our man, Kendall Clark was interviewed by the newspaper guys. The Weather Channel filmed Cataloochee General Manager, Chris Bates (he looked pretty cool in those shades) and according to all accounts, the snow was very nice for only two nights of snowmaking. The slopes conditions report is showing 24-40" of snow on the two trails they have open and Cataloochee is not only open today, they will make a decision by lunchtime as to whether they will be open on Monday!
Wayne and Janet Cash were on the hill Saturday and Wayne stated, "HATS OFF TO CATALOOCHEE for pouring on the snow and providing us with a surface to ride on. Cataloochee didn’t groom last night (Friday), they said they wanted us to pack it down and then they would groom around 4am Sunday after making more snow. Sweet…"
Kent Welke bragged on the conditions (you can read that on the On-Snow Report on the front page (middle column) and during an interview with the newspaper, Kendall Clark said, “I come from Tennessee every week (of the season). It’s that good up here,” said Clark, who drove about 45 minutes from his home in Newport to be part of the opening day."
“This is a big deal because we are in North Carolina, not in Vermont,” said Clark, who coaches the Newport Grammar School Ski and Snowboard team. On Saturday, the park opened at 8:30 a.m., and Kendall Clark was one of the first to get in.
Open until the end of April???
There were a lot of excited fans playing on the snow on Saturday and The Weather Channel was among those partaking in the fun. One of the excited reports on the hill was interviewing GM Chris Bates and quoted him as saying that it had only been seven months since they were open last season. (They closed April 1st.) Then the reporter added that with all the improvements in snowmaking technology, if Cataloochee had the temperatures that they would shoot to stay open until the end of April! We’re not sure if that would happen even WITH the temps, but it would be cool to see. Could it be possible that a southern ski area would be open six months out of the year!?!? The MAY be stretching the excitement just a tad…but it is a cool thought.
If you want to catch Weather Channel video, you can click here.
If you’re interested in meeting up with some fun loving, ski and snowboard enthusiasts…head to Cataloochee today, hit the slopes and just scream "Go SKINC" a few times and I’ll GUARANTEE some of the Cat Crew will introduce themselves. Of course you could also simply find someone wearing a SkiNC hoodie and question them! Regardless, you’ll enjoy yourself!
Our Hats ARE off to Cataloochee! Way to go Chris, Tammy, John and crew!
In fact, the early opening of the park made the national news on The Weather Channel.
Until Next Time!
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